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Department of
Anthropology

Beth Conklin

Associate Professor (Medical Anthropology , sociocultural Anthropology)

Not currently accepting new graduate advisees for the 2024-2025 application cycle.

Professor Beth Conklin is a cultural and medical anthropologist specializing in the ethnography of indigenous peoples of lowland South America (Amazonia).

Her research focuses on the anthropology of the body, religion and ritual, health and healing,death and mourning, the politics of indigenous rights, and ecology, environmentalism, and cultural and religious responses to climate change. She teaches courses on anthropological theory, medicine and healing, indigenous peoples, and environmental issues.

Her publications include Consuming Grief: Compassionate Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society, “Body Paint, Feathers, and VCRs: Aesthetics and Authenticity in Amazonian Activism,” “The Shifting Middle Ground: Brazilian Indians and Eco-Politics” (with Laura Graham), “Ski Masks, Nose Rings, Veils and Feathers: Body Arts on the Front Lines of Identity Politics,” and “Environmentalism, Global Community, and the New Indigenism.”

Specializations

Medical Anthropology, sociocultural Anthropology


Representative Publications

Books

Conklin, Beth A. 2001. Consuming grief : compassionate cannibalism in an Amazonian society / Beth A. Conklin. Austin: University of Texas Press.

 

Journal Articles

Conklin, Beth A. 2020. Shifting Cultivation in Amazonia's Middle Grounds: Propagating Connections Across Eco‐Political‐Economic Landscapes. The journal of Latin American and Caribbean anthropology 25(2):340-350. View Article.

 

Conklin, Beth A. 2013. Last of the Stone Age Warriors: Book Reviews. American anthropologist 115(4):671-674. View Article.

 

Conklin, Beth A., and Laura R. Graham. 2009. The Shifting Middle Ground: Amazonian Indians and Eco-Politics. American anthropologist 97(4):695-710. View Article.

 

Gingging, Flory Ann Mansor, Beth A. Conklin, and Cristina Bacchilega. 2007. 'I Lost My Head in Borneo': Tourism and the Refashioning of the Headhunting Narrative in Sabah, Malaysia. Cultural analysis 6:1.

 

Conklin, Beth A. 2005. Intercambio fractal en una cosmologia canibal: dinamicas de oposicion y amistad en las fiestas de la Amazonia. Boletín de arqueología PUCP 9:45. View Article.

 

Conklin, Beth A. 2002. Healing Powers and Modernity: Traditional Medicine, Shamanism, and Science in Asian Societies. Medical anthropology quarterly 16(2):254-256. View Article.

 

Conklin, Beth A. 2002. Shamans versus Pirates in the Amazonian Treasure Chest. American anthropologist 104(4):1050-1061. View Article.

 

Conklin, Beth A. 2000. Katsa Baba: Humorous Dramas:Katsa Baba: Humorous Dramas. American anthropologist 102(2):350-351. View Article.

 

Conklin, Beth A. 1997. Body paint, feathers, and vcrs: aesthetics and authenticity in Amazonian activism. American ethnologist 24(4):711-737. View Article

 

Conklin, Beth A. 1997. Consuming Images: Representations of Cannibalism on the Amazonian Frontier. Anthropological quarterly 70(2):68-78.

 

Conklin, Beth A. 1996. Reflections on Amazonian Anthropologies of the Body. Medical anthropology quarterly 10